The road kit is always packed. Tools, tube repair kit, tubes, water, rego, insurance, spare cables, bulbs etc. All I had to do was get dressed and go.
I had made friends with a guy called Steve, a guy who gave my piece of the operation support, and as always happens you get around to talking about hobbies. Steve hobby is Harleys( and aeroplanes), in fact, there are about 20 of the big v twins in country, 20 of the Smugly sized one.
There are also countless Japanese makes and models, not to mention everything from China.
Steve has a Smugly as well. It hasn’t run for 3 years and as I had been waiting for a good excuse to go for a ride, four days off was all I needed to go to Kitwe and sort it out for him.
Smugly isn’t the fastest set of wheels. It was designed to survive being thrown out of an aeroplane, carry two soldiers, with kit, for 220km.
Without the front panniers, he will do 125kmh, but 99% of my tripping is done with them, which adds immensely to the wind resistance, so I plan on a cruising speed of 95kmh and enjoy myself.
Offsite early morning,
dodging goats, children, trucks, potholes and errant birds it was peaceful. Smugly enjoyed the cool air and as the first hour rolled around, we had passed through Solwezi and started down the long stretch to Chingola.
My previous rides had all been short, short enough not to be concerned about fuel, but as today was a ‘ how far can I go’ test, I had strapped on a 5 litre can.
The road across to Chingola is considered one of the worst in our area. It has a reputation as being highly dangerous. My opinion is that, yes, it is dangerous, the road surface itself is nonexistant in places with potholes that will literally swallow half a corolla, but if drivers in non roadworthy vehicles of all GVM slowed down, it wouldn’t be so bad. Zambia is no different to the rest of the world, truck drivers drive beaned up, car drivers think they have exceptional skills. The difference here is that vehicles are in really poor condition as are the roads in our corner.
So you can imagine my surprise when I headed down this road and found the surface all patched, or resheeted entirely except for one diversion..
Things are pretty relaxed here. note the guy lifting the HV wires for the wide load truck.
4 hours later I was in Kitwe, at Steves after an uneventful ride. 4 four days spent working bikes, in a proper shed, what a time that was..